Control ticket

ABSTRACT

A ticket having a layer of magnetic material over a portion thereof, said ticket and said layer being provided with an aligned aperture therethrough for receiving an alignment probe of a rotatable recording head.

United States Patent [191 Marmer et al.

CONTROL TICKET Inventors: Burton R. Manner, Natick; Richard F. Stucchi,Hudson, both of Mass.

Assignee: Dennison Manufacturing Company,

Framingham, Mass.

Filed: Oct. 16, 1970 Appl. No.: 81,553

Related US. Application Data Continuation of Ser. No. 681,730, Nov. 9,1967, abandoned.

US. Cl. ....235/61.l2 M, 179/1002 A, 274/414 Int. Cl. ..G06k 19/00, G11b 5/00 Field of Search ..235/6l.12 R,6l.12 M, 235/61.1l R, 61.11 D;283/18, 19, 55, 53,

Primary Examiner-Maynard R. Wilbur Assistant Examiner-Thomas J. SloyanAttomey-Dik, Thompson and Bronstein, Sewal] P.

Bronstein and Donald Brown ABSTRACT A ticket having a layer of magneticmaterial over a portion thereof, said ticket and said layer beingprovided with an aligned aperture therethrough for receiving analignment probe of a rotatable recording head.

2 Claims, 10 Drawing Figures SHEET 1 OF 3 PATENTEU APR 1 0 I973PATENTEDAPM 01m 3', 727. 031

SHEET 2 [IF 3 F a-3A FIG.3B

BURTON R. MARMER BY RICHARD F. STUCCHI PATENTEUAPR 1 01973 SHEET '3 BFINVENTORS MARMER CONTROL TICKET This application is a continuation ofU.S. Pat. application Ser. No. 681,730 filed Nov. 9, 1967 nowabancloned.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a control ticketand, more particularly, to a ticket for merchandise identification,classification and inventory control.

Many situations make use of tickets which contain information needed foridentification, classification and inventory control. Typical examplesare the ticketing of merchandise and the control of manufacturing workin process. It is advantageous for each ticket to have a number ofsections. One section remains with the item. The others are detached asneeded.

When a detached section carries imprinted information, it can beprocessed manually; however, it is also advantageous for each detachedsection to carry machine readable information so that the processing canbe automated.

With many control tickets the machine readable information appears inthe form of punched perforations. Such perforations are undesirable.They detract from the appearance of the ticket; they also causeconfusion; and they sometimes obscure the printing. Moreover, theperforations have to be sufficiently large for correct sensing by ticketreading equipment. There is a limit to.

the amount of machine readable information that can be entered on aticket of specified size.

Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide a controlticket that is able to receive machine readable information withoutdisfiguration of the ticket structure. Another object is to enhance theinformation storage capability of a control ticket of prescribed size.

Still another object is to achieve a ticket structure which facilitatesthe entry of machine readable control information. Another object is toadapt the ticket structure for protection of stored machine readableinformation.

A further object of the invention is to provide a control ticket with atleast one machine readable section that is readily separable from animprinted section. A related object is to provide facility in separatingticket sections in order to limit the possibility of damage to themachine readable formation carried by any section.

A yet further object is to facilitate the fabrication of control ticketswhich are able to store machine readable information without ticketdisfiguration. A related object is to achieve the economical productionof such tickets.

Yet another object is to provide distinctiveness in the groupings ofcontiguous characters of equal size imprinted on a merchandising ticket.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION ble information as well. Thus, an imprintedsection can remain with an item of merchandise or work in process, whilea machine readable section can be detached and used at each stage ofidentification, classification, or inventory control.

To permit magnetic recording, each machine readable section containsmagnetizable material, desirably in the form of a coating on the reverseside of the ticket. The use of a reverse side coating facilitatesmagnetic recording; it also means that there is less likelihood ofdamage during handling of an associated item; and it detracts less fromthe appearance of the ticket. Additional protection of the coating, andthus of the recorded information, can be achieved by folding the ticket.

In accordance with one aspect of the invention, the position ofdetachment between two adjoining sections is advantageously indicated bynotching the ticket structure. This provides a visual indication ofwhere the detachment is to begin and end. It also provides a starter forthe detachment so that there is less likelihood of any delamination,peeling or tearing of any section being detached. Such an effect upon asection bearing a magnetic coating could destroy, or cause interferencewith, the recorded control information.

In accordance with another aspect of the invention, each section bearinga magnetic coating desirably contains an aperture with respect to whicha magnetic head can be positioned for'writing and reading. Not only doesthe aperture provide registration of the head with the coating, but italso permits a location for the head that makes efficient use of thecoating during the reading of recorded information. In particular, sucha ticket is useful in rotary recording where machine readableinformation is written in concentric tracks that are centered about thepositioning aperture.

In accordance with still another aspect of the invention, the coating isdisposed to enclose and approach the positioning aperture wit-out makingcontact. This disposition facilitates the manufacture of the ticketstructure by lengthening the life of the die used to punch the aperture.Otherwise the die could be subject to excessive wear by contacting theabrasive particles of the coating during the punching operation.

In accordance with a further aspect of the invention, the ticketdesirably contains several attachment apertures. These apertures areadvantageously positioned so that when the ticket is folded to protectthe magnetic coating, the apertures become aligned to facilitateattachment of the folded ticket to an item of merchandise or work inprocess.

Other aspects of the invention will become apparent after consideringseveral illustrative embodiments thereof, taken in conjunction with thedrawings.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1A is a plan view of the front side ofa multiple merchandising ticket in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 1B is a plan view of the reverse side of the ticket of FIG. 1A;

FIGS. 2A and 2B are diagrams illustrating one mode of attaching asingle-part ticket in accordance with the invention to an item ofmerchandise;

FIGS. 3A and 3B are diagrams illustrating alternative merchandisingtickets in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the front side of still another alternativeticket in accordance wit the invention;

FIG. 5A is a plan view of the front side of a further ticket inaccordance with the invention;

FIG. 5B is a plan view of the reverse side of the ticket ofFIG. 5A; and

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating one mode of attaching the ticket ofFIGS. 5A and SE to an item.

DESCRIPTION OF THE ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENTS Turning to FIG. 1A of thedrawings, a multisection ticket 10 in accordance with the inventionillustratively has duplicate parts 10-1 and 10-2 carrying specifiedcontrol information. Each part 10-1 or 10-2 is a triplex of threesections. Thus, there are six sections in the entire ticket. In generalterms, such a ticket is multipart and multiplex.

Adjoining parts 10-1 and 10-2 of the ticket are interconnected by narrowland areas 11. Consequently, the ticket 10 can be formed from a stock ofsuccessively connected ticket parts by severing every other pair of landareas. One kind of severing leaves side notches 12 on the leading andtrailing edges of the ticket, as shown in FIG. 1A. Alternatively, theticket parts of the stock may be joined by an incised line andselectively severed by a blade. Accordingly, the number of parts in eachresulting ticket is controllable by changing the sever position withrespect to the ticket stock.

When the multipart ticket 10 is attached to an item, such as an item ofmerchandise, one part 10-1 or 10-2 can later be separated from the otherfor inventory control.

The specific sections of each part 10-1 or 10-2 are a header h, stub sand a tab t. These sections are detachable, one from the other, alongincised lines 13-a and 13-h. Both the headers h and the stubs s areillustratively imprintable with lines of prescribed merchandisinginformation, including, for example, (I) merchandise number, (2)category designation, (3) vendor designation, (4) color and (5) size.The tab t which can be regarded as another header, is also imprintableand illustratively specifies price.

Each header h includes an aperture 14 that permits the ticket 10 to beattached to an item of merchandise. Attach-ment is by stringing inconventional fashion or by using an attachment mechanism, such as thatdisclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 3,103,666 which issued to A. R. Bone on Sept.I7, 1963.

The presence of an aperture 14 on each ticket part affords attachmentflexibility. In addition, it provides a universal ticket part which canbe used irrespective of whether the resulting ticket structure issingle-part or multipart.

At least one of the headers h typically remains with the item ofmerchandise to which the ticket is initially attached, but itsassociated stub is detachable for various purposes, including themachine processing of merchandising information.

To permit the entry of machine readable information on the ticketstructure without what often appears to be the random disfigurationcaused by the punched code perforations, as well to increase thecapability of the ticket for storing machine readable information, eachstub s adapted for receiving machine readable information that isneither visually perccivable nor visually interpretable.

For that purpose the ticket 10 includes magnetizable material which isadvantageously applied in the form of a coating 21 on the reverse side,as shown by FIG. 18. Since at least one of the headers I: generallyremains with the item of merchandise to which the ticket is attached,the coating is confined to the stubs s.

The coating 21 can be of any of the conventional iron oxide compositionsand thicknesses that have been found to be generally suitable formagnetic recording. Such compositions often have a brownish or othercoloration, depending upon the oxide that is used. Consequently, thereverse side location of the coating also limits the extent to which thepresence of the magnetizable material detracts from the appearance ofthe imprinted ticket.

In addition, the reverse side location of the coating permits imprintingover the corresponding front sides of the stubs s. Printing can takeplace without adverse affect upon the ability of the coating to storemagnetic information by suitable coordination of the ticket material andthe printing mechanism (not shown). For example, the thickness of theticket material can be proportioned with respect to the operatingparameters of the printing mechanism, such as applied pressure, toprevent embossing of the reverse side of the ticket. Any tendency forembossing to occur is reduced by using a hard-surfaced platen, such asof steel.

The fact that the magnetizable material of the ticket 10 in FIG. 1B isin the form of a surface coating 21 also facilitates magnetic recording,since it permits close contact with a recording unit (not shown). Therecording unit is suitably positioned with respect to the coating 21 ofeach stub by making use of an aperture 22.

The location of each positioning aperture 22 with respect to its coating21 as shown by FIG. 1B is particularly advantageous for circularrecording in which a positioning spindle (not shown) at the center ofrotation of the recording unit enters the aperture 22.

Each aperture 22 is sufficiently large that any stress imparted to itsperiphery by the spindle does not produce such a concentration of stressthat there is rupture of the ticket material. As the recording unitrotates, code signals are stored in the coating 21, without mechanicalpenetration or depression of the coating, in a circular track centeredat the radius of each head (not shown) of the recording unit. There areas many tracks as there are heads at different radii from the center ofrotation.

To prevent inadvertent rotation of the ticket l0 during circularrecording, the aperture 14 of the header h may be used in conjunctionwith a locating pin (not shown) to hold the ticket 10 in place.

Alternatively, the machine readable information may be applied by anon-circular recording unit, with one or both of the header and stubapertures 14 and 22 being used for registration of the ticket 10 withrespect to the recording unit.

Besides being particularly suitable for circular recording, themerchandising ticket of FIG. 1A illustratively has a printing formatthat provides distinction between adjoining groups of equal-sizecharacters, or accentuates the distinction between adjoining groups ofunequal size characters. This format makes use of an offset by whichadjoining groups of characters are either raised or lowered relative tothe others. Thus, in each of the first and second lines of printing onthe header h, the middle group of four characters is aligned below theothers. As a result, the groupings of the characters are visuallyapparent without the need for spacing, special indexing characters, ordifferences in character size.

An appropriate marking machine for entering prescribed merchandisinginformation on a ticket structure of the kind illustrated by FIGS. 1Aand 1B is disclosed in the copending application of Richard Stucchi,Ser. No. 681,831, filed Nov. 9, 1967. In such a machine the tickets arefed over a bed to printing and recording stations. Feed takes place byreciprocating pawls (not shown) which engage feed notches of the headersh and the tabs t. In addition, the stubs contain edge notches 16 foraccommodating a centrally located feed finger (not shown).

As the various sections of the ticket l0are detached duringmerchandising operations, there is the possibility that separation willnot occur at the places desired, namely at the lands 11 or along theincised lines 13-a and 13-h. This is particularly true of the incisedlines 13-a and 13-h and particularly objectionable if it occurstheresince the result may be a delamination, tearing or peeling that coulddamage the coating 21 on the reverse side of the ticket 10.

In order that the position of separation along the incised lines 13-aand 13-h will be readily apparent, a side notch 17 is included at thebeginning and at the end of each incised line l3-a or 13-h. The notchesare triangular in form, with their bases aligned along the incisedlines13-a and 13-h to provide a starter for each desired separation ordetachment.

Theticket 10 of FIG. 1A can be attached to an item of merchandise bymaking use of one of the header apertures 14v alone. An alternative modeof attachment, making use of a stub aperture 22 as well, is shown for asingle-part ticket 30 in FIG. 2A. The ticket 30 is the same as eitherpart 10-1 or 10-2 of the ticket in FIG. 1A, and it can be produced fromthe same stock.

To permit this kind, of attachment, the header aperture 14 is locatedwith respect to the stub aperture 22 so that the two apertures arealigned, but not necessarily concentric, when the header h is foldedagainst the coating 21 of stub s, as shown by FIG. 2B. Consequently, afastener 31 can be inserted through the apertures 14 and 22 with theitem of merchandise, such as a portion of a garment 32 in FIG. 2A,sandwiched between two sections of the ticket 30.

The fastener 31 is desirably inserted through the garment 32 by theattacher disclosed in US. Pat. No. 3,l03,666, above.

The mode of attachment depicted by FIGS. 2A and 28 gives additionalprotection to the magnetic coating 21 upon which the machine readablemerchandising information has been entered. In addition, it facilitatesthe use of the attacher of US. Pat. No. 3,103,666, above, with variousitems, such as pocketbook handles, for which ticket attachment couldotherwise be difficult.

In one technique for fabricating the ticket of FIG. 1B, the magneticcoating 21 is applied to the stub s, after which the positioningaperture 22 is punched through the stock. Since the coating 21 containsmagnetic oxide particles, it produces an abrasive affect with respect tothe punch (not shown). Consequently, it is advantageous for the coatingto be applied to the stub s so that the area to be punched is un'coated.The resulting structure is shown for a single-part ticket 40 of FIG. 3Ain which the coating 41 encloses the location of the positioningaperture 22 without making peripheral contact. When the punch is appliedto the stub s to form the aperture 22, it does not encounter any ironoxide particles of the coating $1, and hence there is no abrasion fromthem.

As noted above, a ticket structure like that of FIG. 3A is particularlysuitable for rotary recording in which machine readable informationappears in the coating on circular tracks. Economy of the coatingmaterial is realized by adapting the ticket 411 of FIG. 3A to producethe ticket 40' of FIG. 3B.

In FIG. 3B the coating appears as concentric rings 42 and 43 ofmagnetizable material, there being one ring for each track. Where only asingle track is required, only one ring 412 or 43 is needed.

A further embodiment of the invention is illustrated by FIG. showing asingle-part ticket 50 with three sections which are, respectively, aheader h, a first control stub s-1 and a second control stub s-2. Theheader h is imprinted with prescribed control information in, forexample, two lines of characters that are shown in block form with thesecond line having an offset group of characters. The control stubs s-land s-2 have reverse side magnetic coatings 21-1 and 21-2 and associatedpositioning apertures 22-1 and 22-2. The front sides of the controlstubs s-1 and s-2 are illustratively imprinted with headings of themachine readable information received by the coatings 21-1 and 21-2. Thevarious sections h, s-1 and s-2 are detachable, one

from another, beginning at notches of incised lines 13-0 and 13-b.

In use, the ticket 50 of FIG. 4 is attached to an item by using anaperture 14 of the header h, and the stubs s-l and s-2 are detached atsuccessive control stations. Consequently, machine readable informationabout the item is available at the control stations, while the header hremains attached to the item for identification.

Another embodiment of the invention is illustrated by a ticket 611 shownin respective front and reverse views by FIGS. 5A and 5B. The ticket 60is constituted of two control stubs s-1 and s-2 which are joined to aheader h by an intermediate section i. The various sections aredetachable along incised lines 13-a, 13-h and 13-0, with the incisedline 13-0 between the control stubs s-1 and s-2 extending to sidenotches 61, each taking the form of a wedge. The header and controlsections h, s-1 and s-2 are imprinted. In addition, as indicated by FIG.5B, the control sections s-1 and s-2 bear magnetic coatings 21-1 and21-2 and have recording head positioning apertures 22-1 and 22-2.

On the reverse side of the ticket 611, as shown by FIG. 5B, theintermediate section i has a fold line 62 that is straddled by twoattachment apertures 14-1 and 14-2.

Consequently, the structure of FIGS. 5A and 5B is suitable for use as abooklet" ticket in the fashion indicated by FIG. 6. In that use, theticket is folded along the line 62, so that the coatings 21-1 and 21-2face the reverse side of the header h, and attached to an item by afastener 63 which passes through the attachment apertures 14-1 and 14-2.The attachment apertures 14-1 and 14-2 are desirably located in theintermediate section i to be in alignment when the ticket 60 is folded.Such folding serves to protect the magnetically recorded controlinformation both before and after attachment of the ticket 60 to an itemof merchandise.

While various aspects of the invention have been set forth by thedrawings, it is to be understood that the foregoing detailed descriptionis for illustration only and that various changes in shape, proportion,arrangement of parts, as well as the substitution of equivalent elementsfor those shown and described, may be made without departing from thespirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

We claim:

1. A row of a plurality of control tickets coupled together by landareas, each of said tickets including a first section and at least oneadditional section, each of said first sections being adjacent to oneanother in a row and separated by an elongated slot formed between theland areas and along at least a portion of the side of each of the sameadjacent first sections, and a layer of magnetizable material positionedover at least a portion of each of the first sections and extending tothe slots at both sides of each of the first sections, each slotcompletely separating said portions having magnetizable material so thatwhen the tickets are separated by a knife the magnetizable materiallayers do not have to be cut through.

2. A row of a plurality of control tickets according to claim l in whichthere is provided an aperture extending through the ticket and themagnetizable layer for receiving guide means associated with a magneticrecording means.

1. A row of a plurality of control tickets coupled together by landareas, each of said tickets including a first section and at least oneadditional section, each of said first sections being adjacent to oneanother in a row and separated by an elongated slot formed between theland areas and along at least a portion of the side of each of the sameadjacent first sections, and a layer of magnetizable material positionedover at least a portion of each of the first sections and extending tothe slots at both sides of each of the first sections, each slotcompletely separating said portions having magnetizable material so thatwhen the tickets are separated by a knife the magnetizable materiallayers do not have to be cut through.
 2. A row of a plurality of controltickets according to claim 1 in which there is provided an apertureextending through the ticket and the magnetizable layer for receivingguide means associated with a magnetic recording means.